King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is a 2017 epic fantasy movie written and directed by Guy Ritchie and co-written by Joby Harold and Lionel Wigram, inspired by Arthurian legends. The movie stars Charlie Hunnam as King Arthur, with Jude Law, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen and Eric Bana in supporting roles. Take a look below for 27 more fun and fascinating facts about King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.
1. The movie grossed $148 million worldwide against its $175 million production budget, with critics, “warning audiences to stay away.”
2. The movie was meant to be the first in a six film franchise, but the planned sequels were cancelled after it underperformed at the box office and lost Warner Brothers and Village Roadshow Pictures over $150 million.
3. Felicity Jones, Elizabeth Olsen and Alicia Vikander auditioned for the role of the Mage.
4. Charlie Hunnam said that he closely observed UFC Irish featherweight Conor McGregor to incorporate his fighting style and his ultra ripped physique into his portrayal of a young “street” version of Arthur. Hunnam watched hours and hours of interviews and fight footage of McGregor on YouTube because he thought that he would be an interesting model for the character.
5. The movie’s original title was “Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur.”
6. Actress Katie McGrath, who played the role of Elsa in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, also played Morgana, King Arthur’s half-sister, in the 2008 movie Merlin.
7. Originally, Joel Kinnaman was cast as Lancelot and Kit Harington was cast as King Arthur. The movie was delayed because the studio wanted a more well-known cast, with a greatly reduced budget.
8. Mikael Persbrandt dropped out of the long running “Beck” series, which made him a star in Sweden, to appear in the movie.
9. Guy Ritchie’s first cut reputedly came in at three hours and thirty minutes.
10. The movie was pitched to the studio and the actors as Lords of the Rings meets Guy Ritchie’s own Snatch. Charlie Hunnam said that the description sold him on the movie, saying, “That’s a film I wanted to see.”
11. Charlie Hunnam said that he achieved his biggest size ever for King Arthur. He stated, “I got big, bigger than I’ve ever been. I got to 190 pounds!”
12. Guinevere was originally going to be a part of the movie, as Arthur’s love interest. However, Guy Ritchie said that he couldn’t give that story line enough screen time, so the character was rewritten and became Mage.
13. As a six year old, Charlie Hunnam was so obsessed with director John Boorman’s Arthurian legend Excalibur that he watched it repeatedly over the years.
14. Sam Lee recorded a new version of “The Wild Wild Berry” specifically for the King Arthur trailer. It was initially only meant to be for the trailer, but due to overwhelming fan demand, a full version was recorded and released on the soundtrack.
15. Very little of Joby Harold’s script was used. Producer Lionel Wigram rewrote it considerably.
16. Marion Cotillard was rumored for the role of Morgana.
17. Charlie Hunnam and Jude Law previously starred together in Cold Mountain. Law played the protagonist, while Hunnam played the antagonist.
18. The release date for King Arthur was delayed over 10 months due to filming delays.
19. Unusual for a King Arthur movie, neither Merlin nor Lancelot are featured, due to the intention of saving them for the planned sequel. For similar reasons, all references to the Mage actually being Guinevere were removed during post production.
20. The shot which established the dark warrior who kills Arthur’s mother and attempts to take Excalibur from Uther seems heavily inspired by Frank Frazetta’s own Dark Warrior painting.
21. The name of the female Mage is never revealed, but her role in the plot is similar to that of Nimue in traditional Arthurian legends.
22. Eline Powell, who portrays one of the Three Syrens, is also the star of the mermaid drama “Siren.”
23. King Arthur reunited Charlie Hunnam and Geoff Bell, both of whom were in Green Street Hooligans.
24. The movie marks the third collaboration between Jude Law and Guy Ritchie. They previously worked together on Sherlock Holmes and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
25. Freddie Fox, who plays Ed, has a sister, Emilia Fox, who portrayed Morgause, the maternal half-sister of Morgana, which was portrayed by Katie McGrath, who played Elsa in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, in Merlin, a BBC series based on Arthurian legend.
26. This is the fourth movie based on Arthurian legend to be produced and distributed by Warner Brothers Pictures, following Camelot, Excalibur, and The Magic Sword: Quest for Camelot.
27. Maciej Kwiatkowski, Wojciech Roguski, and Slawomir Kurek from Prime Fury Stunt Team, which did all the motion captures for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt video game, did the motion capture stunts, performance and fight choreography for the movie.
